Officials vow to rid E. Burke of mold

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Posted on Wed, Aug. 31, 2005

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolin

a/counties/catawba/12520015.htm

Officials vow to rid E. Burke of mold

JEN ARONOFF

Staff Writer

Charlotte,NC

After 18 years of mold and excessive moisture at East Burke Middle

School, officials are taking steps to eliminate the problem once and

for all.

" Our plans are to do everything in our power to get it fixed as

quickly as possible, " Burke County Schools Superintendent

Burleson said. " Not just put a Band-Aid on it. "

The solution may be a new heating and air conditioning system,

particularly as the current system is nearing the end of its life

expectancy, officials said at a special board meeting Monday. Though

the cost of repairs is uncertain, the money would likely come out of

the district's capital fund.

An engineer from United Mechanical Engineering, a Charlotte firm

that has worked with the Burke schools in the past, will conduct a

walk-through of the building on Friday to get a better sense of the

problem and the solution. Officials expect to present the school

board with a repair proposal at the Sept. 19 school board meeting.

Mold has been a growing problem at East Burke Middle since the

school opened in 1987, and custodians have tried nearly everything

to rid the building of the pervasive spores.

They've tried cleaning. They've tried adjusting the thermostat.

They've tried closing the outside air dampers.

But the mold has proved resilient, popping up everywhere from books

to carpets, desks and chairs. And it's led some parents to express

concerns -- and to complain to the media.

Felicia Hildebran's 11-year-old daughter, a sixth-grader, attended

an orientation program at the school earlier this month. She came

home feeling sick and complaining of " a really bad mold smell, "

Hildebran said.

When Hildebran called the school, the staff acknowledged the

building had persistent mold issues, she said. But that didn't quite

prepare her for what she saw when she went to the school to see for

herself.

" We're talking about green mold all over their books, their

desktops, chairs, on the wall, " she said, also describing a damp,

moldy carpet. " I do not think that is a healthy environment. My

question is, `How come it hasn't been fixed?' "

The problem is that the school's heating and air conditioning system

is too large, Burleson said. As a result, it doesn't run long enough

to enter its dehumidifying stage, allowing moist air to remain in

the building.

Controlling moisture is key to controlling mold, but a lack of

urgency over the years has allowed East Burke Middle's issues to

remain, officials said.

Instead, it's been easier to clean up the mold -- so much so that

the district's custodians have become well versed in mold control

techniques over the years.

Burleson praised the custodial staff, and noted East Burke Middle

gets an especially thorough cleaning before school starts each year.

It's probably the cleanest school in the county now, he said.

There are also 12 to 14 dehumidifiers throughout the building.

Getting rid of the cause of the mold will save time and money,

Burleson noted.

Heating and air-conditioning systems are a common source of mold,

according to health and maintenance experts, and mold in schools has

impacted communities across the nation.

To avoid mold, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends

keeping schools at 30 to 50 percent relative humidity. The humidity

in East Burke Middle sometimes exceeds 80 percent, Associate

Superintendent Randall Brackett said.

" It's a serious situation that needs prompt attention, " he said.

In Burke County, the district's indoor air quality committee has

been collecting carbon dioxide, humidity and temperature readings at

East Burke Middle, and the building also has undergone a yearly

inspection that examines " every nook and cranny, " officials said.

The mold is worst in summer, with the air conditioning running and

little body heat in the school to balance it out, Burleson said.

When students are in the school and when the heat is on, the

situation improves. But Burleson said there's still a problem 65 to

70 percent of the time.

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Jen Aronoff: (828) 324-0055; jaronoff@...